Plunkett & MaCleane
Starring Robert Carlyle, Johnny Lee Miller and Liv Tyler Directed By Jake Scott Running Time: 1 hour 40 minutes.
(Polygram Filmed Entertainment)
Plunkett & MaCleane marks the directing debut of Jake Scott, brother of Ridley and Tony. Naturally, this got me worried. Would Jake's talent be inherited from Ridley or Tony? If it was from Ridley, than the movie would be a thoughtful suspensor with action thrown in. If it was from Tony, it would be wham bang drivel. Unfortunately, the latter is true for this worthless picture with little charm. Carlyle and Miller are the titular highwaymen, Plunkett (Carlyle) who is poor and unruly, and Captain James MaCleane (Miller) a clean cut gentleman. As the tagline clearly wants to make known, they rob the rich and nothing else. The film basically follows the rowdy hold ups the two stage, along with romantic interludes with Lady Rebecca (Tyler.) Hot on both their tails is Mr Chance (Ken Stott) who wants to see them both dead.
Plunkett & MaCleane is an annoying little film that serves little purpose. Although undoubtedly slick and fast paced, there's very little merit contained in the film. Carlyle and Miller are fun enough as the foul mouthed pair, although their characters are criminally undeveloped. It appears that much of the money has been spent on the expensive looking sets and costumes, but not on the script. The five(!) screenwriters (three credited) have produced an still born movie: there's very little development in the story. Also, major events, such as Mr. Cash finding out who Plunkett and MaCleane really are, are so rushed that they barely happened. The story is a bit of a mess, frankly.
The performances aren't bad: Carlyle and Miller are typical lads, but Liv Tyler is a huge disappointment as the love interest. Her irritable, stilted performance sticks out like a sore thumb, and I was quite unsure on what accent she was trying to put on. She looks nice, though. More interesting is Alan Cummings as the campy Lord Rochester, and although his character amounts to nothing more than a two dimensional comedy gay character, he hams it up well. Ken Stott is suitably evil as Chance, but again he is nothing but a flat character. I didn't particularly care when the predictable death sequence arrived.
Although a disappointment in writing, and a minor success in acting, the film certainly look lavish, with good costumes, and wonderful sets. But production design alone can't save a movie, especially a movie as bad as this mess. Jake Scott would be more suited to directing a music video rather than this failed update of a period drama: the only update seems to be the fact that everyone must talk dirty, with 'f*ck this' and 'stand and f*cking deliver' splattered all over the place. The MTV editing and direction are flash enough, but in the end decidedly empty.
Plunkett & MaCleane is a massive disappointment. Although somewhat enjoyable during parts, it's so light it could float off the screen if it wasn't just images on a reel. There's no thought, no development, no plot, just a series of manic edits and quirky camera angles to make this film appeal to Gen-Xers. Although it's a great idea: update a period drama to the MTV generation: it's execution is awful, and would more likely bore than excite. Sloppy and occasionally off puttingly tasteless, it's hard to recommend Plunkett & MaCleane as a movie, but easy to recommend it as a overlong music video. Give it a miss.
RATING=** OUT OF *****
A David Wilcock Review ©1999
DAVID WILCOCK david.wilcock@btinternet.com Visit the Wilcock Movie Page! http://www.wilcock54.freeserve.co.uk
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